The present invention relates to a portable Braille computer device which is an automated translation device, and most particularly, to scanning and translating hand-written or printed text from a language to the Braille format, preferably in the same language.
The Braille format was devised to enable the blind or visually impaired to read alphanumeric characters using their sense of touch. Braille is represented as xe2x80x9ccellsxe2x80x9d of dots raised above the surface of the reading material. Initially each Braille cell consisted of six dots, arranged in two columns of three dots each. Each character is identified by the specific set of dots that are raised in the cell. Because of the limited number of combinations possible in a six-dot cell (63), the cell has been expanded to eight dots, by adding two dots at the bottom, to form two columns of four dots.
Within the context of the Braille format, there are various forms of Braille writing. These forms differ in the varying levels of complexity of the contractions that they employ. Grade-1 Braille is the simplest. In this form of Braille, a character is used for all the letters of the alphabet. Only few if any of the most common words such as xe2x80x9candxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cforxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cofxe2x80x9d, or character combinations such as xe2x80x9cchxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9couxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cowxe2x80x9d and others are contracted. This form of Braille is used mostly to teach Braille, or for elementary level texts.
Other forms of Braille are more complex, in order to increase the amount of information which is imparted in a group of cells. For example, grade-2 Braille is a more complex, and much abbreviated form, with dozens of rules on how to contract different words. Most Braille publications use this form of Braille. Grade-3 Braille is the Braille equivalent of shorthand writing, as it relies very heavily on abbreviations. This form of Braille is the least standardized, and in many cases is more of a personal writing style of those that use it. Grade-3 Braille is therefore the most specialized form of Braille, used mostly by few people for advanced study or other such topics.
Braille writing itself can be formed on different types of media. The most prevalent form of Braille is printed material. Braille is printed using special printers that emboss the raised dots on sheets of paper or plastic. Before a text is printed in Braille it must be processed, as the xe2x80x9ctranslationxe2x80x9d is not letter for letter between the original written language and Braille, even for the simplest Grade-1 Braille. Because of the relatively large fixed size of Braille cells compared to regular text (a 3 to 1 ratio), the amount of information that a single page of Braille can hold is considerably smaller than a regular page of text. Therefore, Braille books tend to be large and cumbersome. Furthermore, the additional processing required to produce a Braille publication or to reproduce a regular publication in Braille format, as well as the extra size of the materials, increase the expense of producing these publications. This severely limits the scope of material available in Braille.
The availability of computers has resulted in the development of various tactile displays designed for readers of Braille. A tactile Braille display is a display which features electronic control mechanisms for lowering and raising of pins in single or multiple Braille cells, which are then read like printed Braille materials. Numerous mechanisms have been devised to create and control such dynamic displays of Braille writing. The most prevalent technologies utilized are magnetic pins or solenoids, as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,583,478 and 4,191,945; or constructions using piezo-electric crystals, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,283,178 and 5,226,817. These mechanisms are rather expensive to manufacture and operate. They also have many prohibitive limitations, such as the size of the control mechanisms, in addition to the actual cell size; high power consumption; and the inability to display more than a single line of cells. This has severely limited the applications for which such tactile displays have been used. Recently a new mechanism for tactile Braille writing has been developed, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,992. This mechanism is much less expensive and can be arranged in multiple row configurations.
One common use for tactile Braille displays is in note-taking devices, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,494. Braille note-taking devices are usually small handheld devices which feature a Braille (or normal) keyboard, used to enter the notes, and a single row of one to twenty Braille cells. Such devices are a specific need of the blind, as unlike seeing people, the blind cannot access the printed information in the readily available non-Braille materials needed for many daily tasks. For this reason, they are forced to create their own notes in Braille. Many of these devices have various additional features such as appointment calendars, phone books and other features commonly seen in pocket organizers for sighted people. However, these note-taking devices cannot aid the blind individual in reading various printed materials, such as train schedules and other informational materials, which may be required as the blind individual travels or studies for example.
Despite these many advances in various devices for the blind, currently available Braille readers still have many disadvantages. These Braille xe2x80x9creadingxe2x80x9d machines are constructed by combining standard computer sub-systems. They generally consist of a personal computer, desktop scanner, and Braille display, or text to voice unit. Each of these sub-systems has a separate proprietary controlling software program, and these systems generally lack cohesion and the ability to interact with other such systems. Because of the nature of the components which are involved, these systems are large and bulky, and therefore are not portable. This is a major disadvantage, as many printed materials are not readily available in Braille format, the blind individual cannot easily read printed materials as necessary, for example when traveling. This presents a serious problem for blind individuals.
One attempt to provide such a portable scanning device is disclosed in German Patent No. DE 3901023. However, the device is not truly portable, as it requires a separate computer to perform the computational tasks required to scan printed text and display such text as Braille. The scanning portion of the device then communicates with the separate computer by radio, such that the blind individual still cannot travel with the device or otherwise easily transport the complete device. Thus, the disclosed device does not ameliorate the problem of portability.
However, no currently available device on the market for reading printed materials and translating them into Braille is portable. Therefore, blind individuals cannot easily read such printed materials as train schedules, material distributed in a classroom or other educational context for examination during a lecture, and other printed material which is most preferably read when traveling, studying, or otherwise when away from a large, bulky Braille reader. Furthermore, none of the currently available reading devices provides an annotation function, in order to allowing the blind individual to add notes to the translated material. Also, none of the currently available reading devices is able to represent graphic images with the Braille array, such that the blind individual is not able to read or otherwise obtain information from such graphic images. Yet a long-felt need for such a device exists.
There is thus a need for, and it would be useful to have, a device for reading printed material written in a printed character language and for rapidly translating the text of such material into Braille, which is truly portable.